Northern Alliance position

["Ken Hanly" <khanly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From BBC monitoring via Johnson's Russia list:

BBC Monitoring
Afghan Northern Alliance believe US strikes will help defeat Taleban -
Russia TV
Source: Russia TV, Moscow, in Russian 1600 gmt 16 Sep 01

[Presenter] Our special correspondent Sergey Zenin has happened to be the
only Russian TV journalist now staying in Afghanistan. In an interview with
our correspondent representatives of the Northern Alliance made a
sensational statement: they are ready to wage war against the Taleban and
Usamah Bin-Ladin jointly with the US army. Sergey Zenin passed this report
to the editorial office last night.

[Correspondent] This is the River Panj - a natural and actual border
between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Pilots are trying to gain maximum
height as soon as possible in order to fly safely over the most dangerous
area. The territory down there is under the control of the Northern
Alliance army, not the Taleban. However, the helicopter crew regularly find
new bullet holes in the body of their aircraft...

In two hours, we reached Panjsher. Soviet troops made seven attempts to
establish control over this place, but in vain. Now, like then, the army of
Ahmad Shah Masud is stationed here. The Panjsher lion - Sher Panjsher -
this is how they called this man here. At 1000 [local time] on Saturday [15
September], Gen Masud died in hospital as a result of wounds which he
sustained a week ago.

The first official interview on the issue was granted to the "Vesti"
programme...

Foreign Minister of the Islamic State of Afghanistan Dr Abdollah said that,
at present, the army of Ahmad Shah Masud numbered about 15,000 men. Each of
these men perceives the death of the general as their own tragedy. But they
have not lost their spirits...

Minister Abdollah said that the Northern Alliance leaders were hoping to
defeat the Taleban in the near future and that they were pinning great
hopes on the forthcoming operation to be carried out by the US army.

[Dr Abdollah, captioned as foreign minister of the Islamic State of
Afghanistan] We believe that the US action will be a success. All people
here are against the Taleban. Because the Taleban and Bin-Ladin's
terrorists act in agreement, strikes against terrorists' bases, to be
delivered by the Americans, will inflict serious losses on the Taleban
movement.

[Correspondent] The situation in Panjsher itself is quiet now. The army of
Ahmad Shah Masud is concentrated along the front line, and the Northern
Alliance will launch an offensive as soon as the Americans start their
operation.

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